Garmin zumo 660 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Motorcycle Navigator
by Garmin
List Price:
Our Price: $630.10
You Save: $169.89 (21%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-3 weeks
Category: GPS or Navigation System
See more product details
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: GarminBrand: Garmin
Edition: Electronics
Model: 010-00727-00
Color: Black/Gray
Publisher: Garmin
Studio: Garmin
Music Label: Garmin
Product features:
- 4.3-inch, sunlight-readable, glove-friendly touchscreen display; motorcycle and automotive mount both included
- Motorcycle console for trip information, including fuel gauge to warn you when it's time to fill up
- Full coverage mapping for the US, Canada and Puerto Rico
- Lane assist with junction view directs you to the preferred lane while driving, provides realistic images of upcoming junctions
- Built-in travel kit includes features such as picture viewer, world clock, currency and measurement converters and calculator
- Preloaded map data features nearly six million points of interest, including hotels, restaurants, gas stations, ATMs and attractions
- Garmin City Navigator for Detailed Maps of Australia (microSD/SD Card)
- Garmin Navigation Mapping Software, South Italy and Sicily (010-C0538-00)
- Garmin City Navigator for Detailed Maps of Mexico (microSD/SD Card)
- Garmin Map Update 2009 City Navigator Australia NT (CD-ROM)
- InstallerNet Navigation System eInstallCard (Delivered via Email)
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin zumo 660 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Motorcycle Navigator
Customer Review: Great motorcycle GPS
Summary: 5 Stars
Most of my opinions have been posted as a reply to another review ([...]) but I wanted to actually give this GPS a star rating so I'll summarize some thoughts here.
First, this GPS was not replacing another GPS. I've never owned another motorcycle GPS and the only other device I can compare it to is what's built in to my Civic. But this won't be a comparison review, this will be a straight review of the Zumo 660. This also won't be a review about how it performs in a car, because this is a motorcycle GPS and that's what I use it for.
Overall I love this GPS. The first thing I notice about it is the wide screen. I have looked at other GPS's in the store and a lot of them have nearly square screens with not a lot of information on them. I'm an HDTV kind of guy and I appreciate the wide aspect ratio and larger view of the map when driving. I have a modestly sized bike (BMW F800ST) and it fits nicely on the left part of the handlebars without hitting the windscreen or otherwise getting in the way. In my case, though, I had to face the main clamp of the mount straight forward so the cradle didn't sit to high. Still, there is plenty of space for it.
Outside my house the unit syncs up to satellites pretty quickly, usually in less than a minute. It actually can sync inside my garage with the overhead door open so it's always ready to go before I am.
The buttons on the main screen are minimal in number but large in size so it's easy to hit them with gloves on. Navigating to a location starts with an easy press of the 'Where to?' icon. Once there you have the standard ways to find a location: address, pre-programmed 'home', points of interest, recent destinations, favorites, intersection, cities, custom routes or longitute/lattitude coordinates.
One big thing I like about the GPS is that when you ride it poops out a virtual popcorn track which you can then use to re-trace your route later. Like finding your way home when you're last in a forest. Ha ha. You can also 'record' trips/routes and compare them later for distance and time. Say, for instance, you want to find the fastest way to get to and from work. You can basically turn the GPS on when you drive to work for a week or two, load the routes into some software on your computer, and compare them to find the best way to get to that destination. You can also save the popcorn track for use as a custom route later.
The map display has a few modes, the best of which is the 3-D mode. The wide screen gives you a good perspective of the roads ahead which my brain has an easier time wrapping its head around. You can also turn on 3-D buildings that show more of your physical environment when you're in certain areas. This is more convenient that you might think until you experience it. You can also manually zoom the view in and out.
You can do many things from the main screen, too. You can hit the top bar and get a listing of the turns you have ahead. Tap one (not while you are driving) and you will see a smaller overhead view of the turn, so you can get a feel of how the route looks prior to driving it.
The lower left and right corners have programmable information areas where you can choose to display any number of things, such as the time to the next waypoint, the distance to the next waypoint, the estimated time of arrival at your destination, elevation, etc. You can also hit the menu button and cancel the route, request a detour or otherwise monkey with the settings.
One great feature is that the display has an icon that indicates the current speed limit. I paid attention to it one time and it seems to update that display within about 30 feet of a posted speed limit sign. This is hella convenient when you are driving an unfamiliar highway. It's one of my favorite features that I never knew I wanted until I had it.
The menu has a 'Where am I' button that will tell you where you are, including the city, street, address and nearest intersection. There are also buttons to find the nearest police stations, hospitals and gas stations. That last one saved my butt at least two times on a long trip I recently took. You can also hit 'Save Location' on this screen, which was convenient one time when I was in a big city I was unfamiliar with and had to park the bike and walk several blocks to another location. It was cake navigating back to the bike on foot!
The unit has many built-in languages, and you can download more. I currently have it set to the Australian English female voice. Very classy, and I feel like Naomi Watts is giving me directions. Awesome. I don't have a headset and I can't really hear it on the freeway but it's plenty loud when you're driving on city streets. Although I haven't tried it yet, you can download an application and record your own voice and use it for navigation. It kind of sounds creepy but it might be fun.
This unit comes with some Garmin software to make custom routes, but frankly, I don't use it much. It's okay, but I'm a nerd and use a different method (mentioned below.) The software, as mentioned in other reviews, is kind of weird. You basically make a series of waypoints and the software will map out the shortest distance between each pair of them. Although on the PC this doesn't always happen correctly and the unit might make slight adjustments to your route. Even weirder, there is a 'recalculate route' button on the PC software that will do this re-routing for you, then it will match what the GPS thinks the route should be when you load it. Why it can't just do it right in the first place is beyond me. So it takes a little while to get used to the software but it works good enough for simple routes.
I think I've figured out why it re-routes, in general. Basically, as I mentioned, the routing tries to guide you to the next waypoint using the shortest route. I planned out and rode a long trip (San Francisco to San Diego and back) and decided to take a couple detours. The GPS re-routed my course when I originally turned off of it, but it continued to try to get me to the waypoint, not on my original path. This turned out to be very convenient and in one instance allowed me to easily take a short cut. It continually routed me forward instead of trying to make me turn back and get to the original route. In one instance I decided to skip one waypoint altogether. If you do this, it will pick up your original route once you pass through any of the other following waypoints. This was pretty convenient and really lent itself well to someone like me who plans a route and changes it on-the-fly as I travel.
I'm a Linux nerd so the Windows software is not entirely easy to run in my environment (using wine.) Plus, something feels dirty about running Windows software on a Linux laptop anyway. So I poked around the Internet and found an alternative way to build routes to load into this device. Here's a quick primer since I want to get this information out but have nowhere else to put it:
1. Use Google Maps to map out a route. Google Maps is awesome and I love the way you can just drag a route around and it will snap into the nearest road(s).
2. Download the route by going to the 'link' link in the upper right, copy and paste the URL into a new Web browser window then append "&output=kml" to the end.
3. Use GPS-Babel to convert it to a GPX file.
4. OPTIONAL: Load route in Viking (or other Linux-based GPS mapping software) to verify the route.
5. Load the GPS to the unit and let it do the import.
Using this method it actually loads a 'track' rather than a 'route', so it traces the route you planned out exactly, no re-combobulating of the path.
Lastly, I didn't get to monkey with the bluetooth very much. I don't have a headset but a buddy of mine does have an iPhone it it hooked up to this thing the first time we tried. I then called him from the back seat of his car (he was in the front) and it worked flawlessly. Ha ha.
So, enough shenanigans. This is a solidly built, quality, eternally useful GPS unit for the Motorcycle. As noted in other reviews, it has no XM, but the new 665 does if that's important to you.
Most of the negative reviews of this unit compare it to the more expensive 550, which I kind of think is kind of a cheap shot. Of course the units are going to be different, but different does not necessarily mean better. Both units have their merits but being a new motorcycle GPS owner with nothing to compare to, I fell in love with the Garmin Zumo 660. And after reading the actual 550 reviews, I still concluded that the 660 is better and I have not regretted this purchase for one second.
Description of Garmin zumo 660 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Motorcycle Navigator
Take a ride on a new route and explore the open road with the z?mo 660. This motorcycle-friendly navigator was built to lead you on all of your two-wheeled adventures. Whether you're on a weekday ride just across town or a weeklong trip to an annual rally with friends, the z?mo 660 is ready to show you the way.Digital Cameras & Photo Categories
Similar Digital Cameras & Photo Products
Garmin zumo 220 3.5-Inch Bluetooth Motorcycle GPS NavigatorGarmin; Garmin; Garmin; Electronics; GPS or Navigation System
Best price: $399.99
Price in other shops:
CARDO SCALA RIDER G4 POWERSET BLUETOOTH/ MP3/ INTERCOM/ FM STEREO HEADSET(2-HEADSETS)Cardo; CE
Best price: $329.95
Price in other shops:
RAM Mount Square 2" x 1.7" Base w/ 1" BallRAM Mount; Ram Mount; RAM Mount; Electronics; GPS or Navigation System
Price in other shops:
Sun Shade Anti Glare Shield Visor for Garmin Nuvi 200W 205W 250W 255W 260W 265WT 285W 680 670 660 610 600 785T 780 775T 770 765T 760 755T 750 880 860 850 GPSMFX2; CE
Best price: $9.89
Scala Rider Cardo G4 Motorcycle Headset SystemCardo Systems Inc; CE
Best price: $319.95
Price in other shops:
Sena SMH10D Bluetooth Helmet Communication System PairSena; Sena; Sena; Automotive; Automotive Parts and Accessories
Best price: $339.14
Price in other shops:
Kingston 8 GB microSDHC Class 4 Flash Memory Card SDC4/ 8GBKingston Digital, Inc.; Windows; CE
Best price: $2.80
Price in other shops:
Lexerd - Garmin Zumo 665 660 TrueVue Anti-Glare GPS Screen ProtectorLexerd; Lexerd; Lexerd; Electronics; GPS or Navigation System
Best price: $9.95
Garmin 010-11270-03 Motorcycle MountGarmin; Garmin; Garmin; Electronics; GPS or Navigation System
Best price: $42.99
Price in other shops:
GlareStomper 320 Sun Shade Visor for 4.3" GPS ScreensGlarestomper; Glarestomper; Glarestomper; Electronics; GPS or Navigation System
Best price: $17.95